And yet
by TheNerdling
Summary: Well, to be frank, he hated her from the start, he just wanted his butler back, but such a temptation came with a price. Besides, at least she wasn't trying to bargin
1. Chapter 1

**Okay, here goes nothing!**

* Evil Narrator POV

Maria looked down from her perch 'Mine' she thought to herself, a literal Hell's Angel, she needed to get back to the main-lands and serve there until she became something that dwelled between Heaven in Hell (as she didn't want to be in the and the other wouldn't let her in). She watched as 'Sebastian' took a young boys soul, leaving a living, soulless sack, incapable of purity or impurity. "Perfect" she whispered under her breath. She stole down and picked up the boy, carrying him back to the gondola. "Maria, don't be foolish" 'Sebastian' advised her. She pushed off the shore with an oar, poor Ciel just laid there in shock and pain (having your soul ripped out and living to tell about it hurts). "Why? Come now Ivan, you don't have a use for him any longer; help your poor Hell-bound sister out." She said before rowing the boat at an alarming rate for a physically 14-year-old girl, leaving Sebastian temporally stranded. The Phantomhive manor was in an utter state of silence as Maria carried Ciel inside. "You're not dead yet dear, just hold on.' She said quietly; things we're going to get interesting, especially once Gigi got there in the morning. Maria sighed and laid at the foot of the big blue bed she had tucked Ciel into. The last thought she had that night was 'I make a horrible demon.'

**I know it kinda sucks, but felt the need to put it up anyway. ;P remember to review!**


	2. Chapter 2

Hi! Please review, you people are KILLING me!

P.S. Nami: Saucy huh? Can do

...

*Ciel

I woke up with a start, the pain was mind-blowing as I slowly remembered what had happened. Why the Hell is there a girl at the foot of my bed? I got up and tried rushing to the dresser with the mirror (almost falling in the process); once I did get to the dresser I took off my eyepatch and opened my eye wide. The Pentagram was still there! How? Where the Hell was…! Sebastian! I went back to my bed and shook the girl awake by her shoulders. She pushed me back with a groan and tried to settle back down. I went back and pulled her up by her hair.

"Ow! You damn fool, what was that for!?" She yelled, her name came to me in a misty fog "Annabelle" I said looking into her eyes that held the same yellow as the center of a daisy. "That's my new name? Very well, Annabelle Micheals; Only partly at your service. " she said, getting her face precariously close to mine. "What?" What the Hell was she talking about?! "Where is Sebas.." I tried to ask, but she threw a hand over my mouth. "When in reference to your former demon, let's call him Him. No need to call his attention to yourself." I gave her a look, how much opium had she had in the last two days? "Look, He took your soul, you were supposed to die. If he comes, he will kill you, and that's IF the reapers don't get you first!" Annabelle yelled at me. "I have to do only what's necessary for your survival, at least until your natural death. You can make all the demands you want, but I'm not in it for the soul, you don't have one. You don't have total control now. That's the only good thing about this job….. You should meet Gigi" She continued.

She took my hand and lead me to the door; "Oh, what the hell?" She said, before ruffling my hair! "GIGI!" Annabelle yelled without restraint. A young women, maybe 30, walked up the stairs. "Good morning Master. Annabelle." She said respectively. Oh fun, another stranger in my house. Sure, why not? "Ciel, this is the new head of the Phantomhive servants, Gigi. Gigi, as you know, this is Lord Ciel Phantomhive. " Annabelle said sweetly, there was a big crash down the hall. A flash of pure annoyance splotched Gigi's face. "What would the young master like for breakfast? I would've had it ready earlier, except your servants have been dropping, and killing, and burning things all day. Never mind that though, after your ordeal last night , you need rest." Gigi said as another crash occurred down the hall. It was like London had never gone up in flames, like I had never left.

"I am not hungry! Someone tell me what the Hell is going on!" I yelled. "Two demons with un-demonic motives have moved into your house to help you return to normalcy and protect you from a certain demon who happens to be hunting your head. As you have probably already guessed, these demons are Mari, err Annabelle, and I." Gigi explained kindly. Interesting, two new pawns in my game. "I only have one soul, what are you getting from this?" I ask, if I had learnt anything from my time with Sebastian, it was that demons don't do anything for free. " I need something besides rotting in Hell for the rest of my existence. Keep in mind though, I am not my brother, I will not wait on you hand and foot. I will do what's necessary to keep you alive… and whatever other demands I feel like following."

Annabelle hissed at me. Sebastian had a sister? I looked her over again. I couldn't see any similarities between the two except for the straight black hair. I was about to ask Gigi (obvisously the more sane of the two.) where Sebastian actually was when another crash came from downstairs and she rushed to it. This was going to be a long day.

…...

I might upload more tomorrow. I know Ciel was a little ooc but go with it (the sauciness will come next chapter Nam, I promise). Review! Or PM me, OR SOMETHING!


	3. Chapter 2 12

"Come on, you need rest." Annabelle said, taking my hand. "No. I'm not tired, I need to work." I told her. Her eyes bore into mine in an unannounced staring contest. "Fine, I need new clothes, I'll be right back." She said as she pushed me back towards my room. Did she not hear that I needed to work? Nevertheless, I was tired and settled back into bed. Annabelle came back fairly quickly "I need a new corset, can we go to town and get one? " she asked me loudly, like I wasn't trying to sleep. "No." Was all I bothered to mumble out. She sat me up and looked me in the eye as a ssmirk played on her lips. "If you don't let me get a new one, I'll have to walk around without one." She said, I blushed a little. not that I cared, but she wasn't flat, it wasn't proper for a servant of the phantomhive household. "Go get one from Mey-Rin " I said, she gave me a glare but left. Finally! Some peace and quiet! It wasn't 15 damn minutes later when she bothered me again. "Tie the ribbons from this." She said, standing in front of me in A CORSET AND PETTICOATS! She was practically naked! "No! " I yelled, blushing like an idiot. "Just tie the damn ribbon into a decent bow, I can't reach. Besides your experienced with corsets." She chriped happily. How much had Sebastian told her about me? I tied the ribbon quietly because she was up to par with arguing with me. She finished getting dressed in some of Mey-Rin's extras and sat down at a chair with some fabric and needles and tread. "Go to sleep Ciel. Say something if you need anything." Annabelle whispered as I finally fell asleep again. Annabelle Micheals? What are you? ... Any good? You people never review so I don't know ;P (Nami, was that saucy-ish? It'll get more so, but I thought I'd check.)


	4. Chapter 3

**If it turns out I own something, I'll let you guys know, until then..**

*Annabelle

"What do you mean he's not here?! I come all the way from home to London to here and everything, and he's not here!" Grell yelled at me, seriously, how did _HE_ become a reaper? "I told you, I had to protect the brat." I said shrugging "In any case, he's not here Grell. I'm keeping the things you brought me though." I continue mumbling, of course he came now! Maybe he'll be to upset over Ivan to realize that A) I'm here (where I've been banded from) and B) Ciel is supposed to be rather non-existent. Come on, come on Grell, help me out; be an idiot! "Well, then I'll just stay here until he comes back." Grell stated loudly. Well shit! Grell's stupid, but he's not THAT stupid... I think. I took a deep breath. I would have to hide Ciel first, no, that would be pointless, Ivan would just find him. I took a deep breath, making sure it was in my best interest to summon the beast. I clenched my eyes shut, hoping it would work, yet hoping he had gone back, and whispered "Sebastian."

*Evil Narrator mode initiated

He heard. From the middle of the streets of what was left of London, he heard. Maria had finally caved; she needed his help. Sebastian relished it, in a way only demons could. Soon enough, he was zooming past the city, out, out to the countryside. Out...to the Phantomhive manor. He stopped short, about a mile before the estate. There was a strange, rancid scent. The scent of a reaper. Sebastian didn't have to breath in very deeply to recongize it as Grell. 'Damnit. As if I wouldn't have to deal with Maria, now I have to deal with this sludge as well.' Sebastian thought to himself. At least now he could walk onto the property. Demons, like vampires (the ones that don't sparkle), could only go onto property or into homes if they have summoned or asked permission. Sebastian didn't even have to break a sweat with this part. Of course, getting into the manor would be a completely different ordeal. 'How had Maria even gotten in?' Sebastian wondered in slight awe; whether she excepted it or not, she was the same as him. I suppose, in hindsight, the whole ordeal was a bit perplexing. Nevertheless Sebastian kept moving. The proverbial _stuff _about to_ fly_.

**Now really, this is an actual question, what do the majority of you guys have against reveiwing? Just wondering. And thanks to those of you who DO ACTUALLY say _something_**


	5. Chapter 4

*Maria

"I'm sorry, but I can't just get rid of him. If I do, he might become suspicious, neither of us are supposed to be here Ciel; my hands are tied." I tried to explain to the little bluenette in front of me, he was still pretty pissed. "Then untie them! I do not want Grell creeping around in this house!" He yelled, ugh, what a baby. "Working on it there bocchan." I said annoyed. "Do not call me that." Was all Ciel said as I walked out.

Oh well, maybe Ivan can give me some tips for dealing with him. I went down stairs, Ivan was home.

"Didn't take long." He said smuggly. I rolled my eyes; "GRELL! " I yelled, Ivan flinched, but didn't move more than that. "Bassy! My love, you have finally returned! Like a knight in shining armor, returning to his princess!" Grell yelled. Geez, how does Will deal with this guy yet have disdain for my race? "I highly suggest you let go of me." Ivan growled at Grell. Haha 'Bassy', that's a keeper. "Don't you have anything better to then bother me?" Ivan said chillingly. I laughed a little "Yeah Grell, isn't Daniella going to her mother's today?" I asked, Grell nodded, Ciel came out to the front steps. "Then isn't it your turn to have the kids?" Ciel and Ivan looked somewhere between shocked and confused. "Grell has kids?" Ciel asked in total disbelief; "Two of them, and a wife." I said, how did they not know, I've been on that god-forsaken island for half a century and I knew. "Well, then the kids will be able to meet my Bassy! Won't that be splendid! We can all have a big dinner together at the Phantomhive mansion!" Grell exclaimed excitedly, flapping his arms around like an idiot; I wonder how long it would take for Grell to bother Ivan so much that Ivan would outrightly kill him? I'm gonna find out! "Okay Grell, I'll have Gigi make some extra food, stay as long as you like. " I said smiling. I would except Ivan to be irritated, but he seemed to be a little frozen; I chuckled to myself, this was a good household to move into. "Come on 'Bassy', you can come help me and Gigi get ready for the kids and dinner." I said, he almost completely ignored the whole 'Bassy', to love struck I suppose.


	6. Chapter 5

*Evil narrator

Its true, reapers had to marry reapers to in turn create more reapers. Of course, Daniella and Grell weren't exactly agreeable. But that had never really affected the lives of Grella and William Bas.; even as they went towards the Phantomhive manor Will B. grumbled under his breath and Grella sang a little, something she had heard in the streets "London bridge is falling down, falling down, falling down, London bridge is falling down my fair lady." As just a little girl of 6 how was she to know what she was truly saying?

"Grella, come on, we're almost there. We're only staying here with Grell for a day or two; so don't get comfortable. "How am I supposed to do that? We get to spend time with Papa! How couldn't we be happy?" She chriped. Will B. just rolled his eyes.

"They're here." Maria whispered. Everyone (excluding Ciel) tried to prepare themselves to act pleasent in front of the guests. Will B. had the a dull brown hair color and was a little taller then Ciel. Grella, however, had the same fire-engine red hair as Grell. "Oh you look just like your mother!" Grell said to Will B., hugging him tightly. "Get away from me you cretin! Your a disgrace to grim reapers everywhere!" Will B. said; Grell's eyes welled up with tears, "You act just like your father!" He yelled in complete joy. "You are my father, idiot." Poor little Will B. whispered. "Daddy, daddy! I got my first cin-i-mad-ic records from a bird daddy!" Grella chriped in, not quite being able to say cinematic. Grell ignored her completely.

Ciel was curious, Sebastian was vexed, the servants were trying to recover dinner (seriously, who gave Bard the blow torch?) . Maria looked on knowingly. _'Maria, or Annabelle. Ivan, or Sebastian. Demons are marked by the names, to humans we are who they say we are. To other demons we are what we once were. What am I anymore? What makes a reaper lower then a demon? We all bleed red, eventually we all die._' She thought to herself _'and once in a while, we all feel things_.' She thought. She erased the grimance off her face, "Well, how about we go eat?" Almost everyone agreed and they all gathered around the table. Even, Sebastian sat at the table, even if he didn't eat.

Gigi and Annabelle ran around like crazy people, trying to get everyone feed and happy. It was pure chaos, but a happy chaos really.

Once dinner was over Sebastian went to help Gigi with the dishes. "Margret." He said; "Ivan." She said. That was all they needed to say to eachother, they had been friends for long enough, that acknowledgment was all they needed from eachother. It was nice.

"Hey, Phantomhive" Will B. called out to him, Ciel stopped walking, it had been a long day, he needed to think it over. "You do realize that not a single person outside of the servants here are human." Will called out ; Ciel looked annoyed, but nodded. "How did you meet Annabelle? Isn't she a bit odd for a Phantomhive girl?" Will taunted. "Neither if those things are any of your business. She's just another servant, if you have any questions about her, I suggest you bring it up with her." Ciel remarked bluntly.

Why was Will B. asking such strange questions? Will B. shrugged and turned for the other direction; Ciel kept walking to his room. "Annabelle. Please keep our 'guests' from poking around please." He said, "Can do sir" Maria said with a smirk; she had plans to carry out.

**Talk to me people! I can't bite you through the screen!**


	7. Chapter 6

*Maria

I zig-zagged up and down the hallways, stopping between shadows. "Aren't you supposed to be on the inland?" I was asked; "One more year on that forsaken island and my lot would've been up. I would've been stuck as on it as a book keeper for a long time. I hate book keeping." I said readjusting my position, Will B. had magically figured out our position before Grell had even suspected something was amiss.

"This puts you into an interesting situation with me. Annabelle, I don't have to report you, you can get whatever you're trying to, but I do believe we can put together a simple agreement where everyone wins." Will B. whispered from the middle of the hallway, he had a strange shadow in the breif light. "And what might that be? " I said, smirking and tightening my fingers around the 5 strings that controlled every other thin and sharp as fishing line strings I had put throughout the halls. One little jerk with the third string and Will B.'s head would be missing. "Come out and I'll show you." He said, I pulled on the fifth string that controlled the puppet me. Will B. threw a sythe at it. What the Hell? (where had he kept it?) "See now, that's what you get for trying to fool me, now where are you really?" He asks. Damn, this one might actually have a brain in his head. I pitch my voice to the left of the dummy. "Maybe I'm here." I whisper "Or here... Or here!" I yell to the right, then right behind him. "There's no need for this, Annabelle. I just have some questions." Will B. says quietly. "Ask away." I said, the way I threw my voice it sounded like it was coming from the ceiling. "So, why Phantomhive? You could've served any being." He asked quite loudly; "I needed a ride off the island." I said to the left. "Then how did Sebastian get here?" He asked. "You should ask him." I said so my voice came from a chair. "One last thing... if I can find you in under a minute, will you consider it a lost bet?" He asked, what was he getting at? "Go." I whispered from every angle I could throw my voice to.

In a flash he found me, he was against me, _kissing_ me. I kept my eyes wide open; what the damn hell? I wasn't a huge flirt like Sebastian, this was NOT in the job description! What the Hell!? It went on for what felt like forever. How he tried to get closer, tried to get me to truly kiss back. I couldn't, or maybe wouldn't. "That's not the end demon girl. I'll be here until the day the boy dies." Will B. whispers in my ear. Damn him.

He walks away and I fall into a terrified, crumpled heap "You didn't have to let him do that." Ivan said, and where the hell had he been the last five minutes? "Yes, I did, if I didn't he would've told the other reapers, they would kill Ciel and take me back to that island to keep the books, Ivan, I can't go back." I whisper. Then I smirk "Besides dear Ivan, I have plans and if the reaper bastard wants to dance I'll dance. After all, it takes two to tango." I say, I get up and start making sure our other (grumble) guests are where they're supposed to be. Grell and little Grella were asleep like they should've been, but Will B. was nowhere to be found; no matter, I'll deal with him later. I went back to my room, it was just a little storage room, but it was the only space I could call my own, so it worked. I laid down and tried to sleep, but I was just kidding myself, after that incident with Will B. there was no way I'd be able to sleep in here alone. Silently I walked down to Ciel's room. The door was unlocked, I went in and laid at the foot of Ciel's bed. I already felt safer.

**I still don't own anything, and I could use some thoughts. Should Maria(/Annabelle) learn to get along with Will B. or should she and Ciel get together? Could use some imput. Keep on keeping on, The Nerdling**


	8. Chapter 7

*Evil and absolutely wonderfully epically amazing (not very modest) narrator

The next day came around in a quick fluster of passing night. Sebastian, forever the devil's advocate (literally?), went to the kitchen in search of Gigi, who he had some rather interesting news for. "Margret, have you heard?" He said into a seemingly empty kitchen; "About Will B. officially harassing poor Maria? Yes I have, poor dear. Not for long though, Maria's aways has something up her sleeve. She'll have that poor reaper child on the run in a week. Tops." She said, appearing from the pantry.

"And that Maria spent the night in Ciel's room?" Sebastian continued "Now THAT is an interesting pair, isn't Miss Elizabeth supposed to be coming today?" Gigi added, wide-eyed and gossip prone. "Yes, I do believe so" Sebastian said, smiling. Gigi chuckled, "That should be VERY interesting." She said; Sebastian came up and set his hands around her waist.

"What should we do about it?" He asked her mischievously ; "If Maria wants to fight, she's going to fight. I think the best we can do is sit back and watch the fireworks" Gigi answered, giggling a little. "If you say so." Sebastian remarked, he turned Gigi around and planted a little kiss to her forehead. "However, we should look into this, I don't appreciate that little brat thinking he can take advantage of my little sister's schemes." Sebastian whispered. "After, of course, we tell Ciel." Gigi whispered; "Only but of course." Sebastian said, and then the pair started plotting a scheme of their own.

Ciel had gotten up as normal, well as normal as he could, with Sebastian helping him as was the norm. Annabelle had refused to leave the room all morning, she was just sewing in her chair. Something was wrong with her but Ciel couldn't quite figure it out, or figure out why he cared either way. "Maria, go get the breakfast tray please." Sebastian said, tying Ciel's shoes; _'Maria?_' Ciel wondered. Maria just smiled and walked out, her brow furrowing as she passed through the doorway.

"I'm afraid I have some disturbing news for you bocchan" Sebastian said to Ciel. "What it is now Sebastian?" Ciel grumbled, "Well it seems that our guest Will B. is giving Annabelle a bit of trouble, I just thought it necessary that you should know what was going on inside your manor." Sebastian said, Ciel grimaced; "Sebastian, find out as to what his designs are and keep the two away from one another. We can't deal with him unless we're sure of his intent. Besides, he'll only be here the rest of the day, what harm could he do?" Ciel said, more worried than he would dare to let on; of course, as we all know, there isn't any bull-shiting Sebastian.

"CIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE EEEELLLLL! " Lizzy screeched, running into the room and hugging Ciel Grell-style. "Elizabeth! I didn't think you were supposed to be here until later!" Ciel said, trying to put some space inbetween he and Lizzy. Maria and the reapers all crept down the stairs (except Will B. who had yet to appear that morning.) It had been agreed that they were all supposed to stay upstairs, but come on, you'd be curious too. Just as they were about to retreat up the stairs, Mey-Rin ran around the corner, "Excuse me! Excuse me!" She crowed, trying to stay on both feet and keep the tower of towels she was holding in place. Try as she may, in the end Mey-Rin's tower fall along with her as both pushed Maria down the steep stairs.

Maria of course, landed perfectly fine, but the attention she had gained, was not. "Oh Ciel, who is this, she's darling!" Elizabeth cooed, going over and hugging Maria as tightly as she had Ciel. "Allow me to introduce Annabelle Gwendolen Micheals, my sister who will be working with me for the Phantomhives for some time." Sebastian said with a smile, they all thought it was a nice save. "Your just too adorable! But that dress! All black just does not suit you! Ciel, let's the three of us all go shopping together! " She exclaimed, already dragging Maria and Ciel but their sleeves out the door. "Shopping?" Ciel asked; "Shopping!" Maria yelled. Sebastian quietly followed them, anxious to see the result of such a trip. Of course, first he had to provide a bit of entertainment for himself "If I may be so bold, I would ask for William Bas Sutcliff, a friend of the family, to go with us?" Sebastian said, in an instant Lizzy said yes, and added 'the more the merrier' or something to that effect. Sure enough, the blackmailing reaper boy appeared in sight as the four, err, people? Exited the manor and were on their way to London.

**hahahaha, poor Ciel! Poor Maria! Sebby's gonna get his butt handed to him if he pulls something like that again! (A shopping trip in London, I wonder how it'll go...;P) review**


	9. Chapter 8

*Narrator (who's ego has been officially broken)

Will B. and Ciel trailed quietly behind the girls, who talked about various nothings as the five (Sebastian was at the very back of the pack) traveled through the streets of a slowly but surely recovering London.

"It's been years since I've been shopping in London." Maria told Lizzy, 359 years to be precise. "Let's stop here! Ciel, we'll be in here for a minute dear!" Lizzy called out; the two came out an hour later with enough boxes to make Sebastian a little wary.

There was a street magician down the road, Lizzy grabbed Ciel's hand and dragged him right up to him. Will B. took Maria's hand "They do look very cute together don't they? Maybe one day we can look like that." He whispered in her ear, he tipped her chin up so their eyes would meet "and I'll treat you as good." He stated; "I don't know what delusions you're having, but we will NEVER court." Maria said with venom lacing her words.

"I wonder how many reapers are crawling the city? I wonder how many of them would line up for the chance to kill two mess-making demons and a soulless boy? I'm afraid for the time being you'll just have to put up with me." His voice dripping with faux sweetness.

"Then sell my skin for a two-piece. It takes two to dance Will and I know you love the chase." She whispered in his ear. Then, trying to give herself a head start, Maria gave Will's cheek just a little lick and ran off into the busy crowd. She was right, he did love the chase. She ran and turned corners until she was in a completely empty ally. He ran and ran and ran after her, trailing her in a way few could. "Well then dear, I'm afraid the chase isn't quite so much fun when you make it this easy." Will B. said from behind Maria. She turned around, her face pinched up in distaste and slight disappointment at having the reaper find her.

Luckily she wasn't playing at her best. "Alright, then now what?" Maria said, a plan already forming carefully in her mind; "I wonder..." Will B. whispered, he came up to Maria and took her face in his hands. "I wonder too, I wonder how long it will take you to get back." Maria said. A black cloud of smoke consumed her and she disappeared, it took Will B. a minute to figure out he had no idea where he was, not to mention he was now alone to top it all off.

"I don't care! You could've gotten someone hurt!" Ciel yelled at Maria.

"What do you care!? You and Elizabeth were fine without me there! Believe it or not, as a demon I CAN take care of myself!" Maria argued, wow, as far as demon servants go, she was the worst Ciel had ever had.

"What if William tells on us! You've probably killed me, and all because you couldn't take the rest of the day!" Ciel yelled, Grell and Grella went home to go help find Will B. from the streets of London. "You selfish little brat! You only ever cared about yourself! You don't care about Lizzy and I feel sorry for any child who has to call you their father!" Maria screamed in anguish, Ciel slapped her. Hard, right across the face; it didn't hurt, it was the principle that made Maria cry.

"I am Ciel Phantomhive, son of Vincent, you will not talk to your master in such a way." Ciel said, taking a defensive position. Maria had to focus every bit of her energy to keep from going into her true demon form, the one that didn't feel anything but a hunger for souls.

"I HOPE HE DOES COME TO GET YOU! I HATE YOU, YOU'RE NOT MY MASTER, YOU'RE JUST A SPOILED BRAT!" She screamed. It hit Ciel like a brick to the head.

She tore out of the room. She ran to her little space in the storage closest and let her anger go. She could only stay in her animal form so long before she couldn't take the light and the cold any further. She collapsed on her little mat on the floor and slept.

She stumbled into a nightmare before long,

_ "Maria stay in here and don't come out until I come and get you." Her mother said, helping Maria into the cellar space, it was cramped and moist, but it was the only place her mother could find where Maria would be safe. "Okay." She had whispered as her mother locked her in the dark, Ivan had been working in the barn all day, she hoped he was alright. She sat and sat and sat, then the smoke came through. It was thick and Maria couldn't breath right. Then the flames broke out, Maria couldn't get out as the fire caught ahold of her dress; in the moment Maria realized she was about to die. She screamed an unearthly howl as the last of the flames silenced her._

Maria woke up in a sweat. "I can't do this!" She said, she got to her feet and started walking to Ciel's room.

She heard a footstep behind her but no one was there, she walked faster. She heard another noise and saw a flash of black and then the glint of green and yellow from a shadow. She ran the rest of the way to Ciel's room; she banged her fist against the door.

"Ciel! Ciel please open up!" She exclaimed in the otherwise silent night, why was his door even locked?!

"I thought you hated me and wanted nothing more to do with the Phantomhive brat." Ciel said through the door, Maria could practically hear the smug look on his face.

"Now is not the time for I told you so's Ciel! Please just let me in!" Maria yelled, on the verge of tears. She practically fell through the doorway when it finally opened.

Maria slammed and locked it behind her, she put her arms around her shocked master, letting her last bits of humanity take over.

"I was so scarred Ciel! I think he's back, please Ciel make him go away! I'm scarred!" Said the big bad demon girl (maybe not so much at the moment.); "J-just calm down Annabelle, he can't do anything to you here." Ciel tried, he hadn't exactly had ample experience with crying girls.

"I am so tired, lets just go to sleep okay?" She whispered quietly. He crawled back into his bed, thankful for the warmth they still held. Maria curled up at the foot of the bed. She wasn't going to make this easy was she?

Ciel grumbled a little as he got on top of the sheets he went over closer to Maria who smiled in the darkness and let Ciel wrap his skinny little arms around her. She felt better.


	10. Chapter 9

They woke up like that, all wrapped up together. Sebastian walked in and was a little... perplexed? At the way that not only were Maria and Ciel in the same bed, Ciel was HOLDING Maria and neither of them was under the covers.

Then again, he had woken up next to Gigi in a very... interesting, manner (cough cough unclothed and love-struck cough).

"Master? Its time for you to get back to work." Sebastian said.

As long as Maria was there he couldn't kill Ciel, not to mention there were WAY to many reapers looking into Maria's past to really get Ciel dead without causing a war. He didn't feel like starting a war today.

Ciel got up and got ready as usual, trying not to wake the sleeping girl, who, he had to admit, looked pretty damn cute while she slept."Sebastian, what is Maria? She doesn't act like a demon at all, she acts very much human." Ciel asked when he had gotten re-situatated at his desk.

"She is just strong enough to contain herself. You wouldn't know it by the way she acted, but she's the very daughter of Lucifer. Which I suppose is where things get complicated. As you know, as many people have yelled this at you before, 'to burn in hell' is a very common expression. This came about because demons are notoriously hard to kill, the easiest and quickest way? Fire. On the day of our deaths, Annabelle was almost burnt to death, for a demon to survive such a thing requires a very large abundance of power, she was 9 at the time, which is extremely young for an amount of power that many demons don't receive at all. Things get even worse when you take into account that her mother was a reaper herself. A phenomena never truly explained, such a powerful demon with the will to do good causes a bit of clashing between races. Annabelle, to keep it simple is coming upon her 510th birthday, which means she's able to choose her path, as it has been almost 500 years since her death. She could be a demon, a book-keeper, or... a reaper." Sebastian explained, Ciel was in awe.

Meanwhile...

"You know, if that brat ever handles you like that again, I might have to kill him myself." Will B. Said from his spot in the doorway. "I highly suggest against threatening my master." Maria hissed as she woke up.

"Or what?" Will B. tempted. Maria tilted her head back and let out a vicious laugh, her eyes became a deep red and her canines turned into fangs. "What are you?" Will B. asked, now frightened, if she was a demon what the hell was this?! "I, dear reaper, am a new breed, or ti put it simply, I am just one hell of a servant!" she cackled. After some further terrorizing Will B. ran, screaming like a little girl.

"Hahahahahahahm, so Will the Shrill is afraid if snakes? I'll have to remember that." Maria said to herself. Time to go bother Gigi!

Ciel started working on the various okay's and no's that had backed up for him while he was recovering from a "hunting accident." "The reaper is gone." Annabelle stated proudly as she strutted through the room, landing directly on Ciel's desk. "Good. He was a nuisance" Ciel said, staring intently at the papers in front of him.

"Guess what Gigi just told me! Come on please! Lizzy isn't here for me to gossip with!" Annabelle begged. And Ciel was supposed to be convinced that SHE was literally a devil child? Ciel only sighed in response. "Fine, but next time two of your servants sleep together and you're the last to know I don't want to hear it!" She said smugly. "What!?" Ciel yelled, suddenly very interested in what his little cuddle-buddy was saying; "There is no way Sebastian..." Ciel trailed off, yes actually, Sebastian would. "Neither would Gigi but it happened! They would look kinda look cute together." Maria chirped out, hopeless romantic that she was.

Ciel did not agree at all. He wanted to protest, but seeing Annabelle smile like that, as she romanticized about power couple Gibastian, was priceless. He wish he knew how to make to her smile like that more often.

Wait! Demon butler aka her brother was fluttering about the manor! He sent Annabelle on a large assortment of trivial little tasks around the mansion and hoped his choice of work would time out right...

"Are you sure about this?" Sebastian asked as his ex-master, who sat fidgeting in his chair. Mey-Rin was taking a long time getting Annabelle ready; he heard steps coming down the stairs "Yes, just this once." Ciel whispered as Annabelle got to the bottom of the stairs.

Wow, she looked, wow. Most of her silky black tendrils were tied back in a green ribbon that matched the dress, one of the ones she had gotten with Lizzy. In case you missed it before, she looked, just, just, wow. Ciel had to remind himself to shut his mouth, Annabelle looked a little troubled. She sat down and waited for Ciel to say something. They sat there awkwardly like that for a good 15 minutes before Sebastian came in with Gigi for the save.

"Here is some fresh water for this warm evening." Sebastian said, Gigi pretended to whisper something in his ear, he smiled. Both of them left the room, Annabelle smiled that beautiful smile she had for moments like this.

"What are you thinking about?" Ciel asked, trying to make conversation. The smile disappeared, something was wrong here. "What is it Annabelle?" He asked, growing a little worried. Annabelle blushed horribly.

"Would you mind to much if I let my hair down? This ribbon is itchy and this hair-do shouldn't when be possible!" She begged. Ciel shrugged in indifference, glad that's all that was bothering her. Or was it? Annabelle tugged on the string until it fell out and a smooth curtain of inky black fell around her shoulders.

"Ciel?" She asked; "Yes, what is it Annabelle?" Ciel said, becoming nervous again. She looked out the window.

"What's today?" . Ciel let out another deep breath; "The 28 of February, its a leap year, I do believe." He said nervously; Annabelle smiled again, oh how he wanted to know what made her smile like that.

She giggled a little at a memory. "When I was young my mother would let me sleep in and let me eat all the food I wanted." She said quietly. She was reminiscing, she missed her old life a little. Just enough to stab at her heart; "Ciel, I'm tired, I'm going to head to bed." She whispered, silent as she got up to leave.

"Sit down." Ciel demanded, Annabelle shot daggers from her eyes (figuratively) at him

"Ciel. I'm tired, I'm sorry if I'm causing you any inconveniences, but if I try to stay awake much longer I'll faint." She meant something more like pass out, but hey to each his own.

"Annabelle, something is wrong, I'm not leaving you alone until you tell me what." Ciel said, a smug smirk settling in on his young features.

"Then you'll be following me for an awfully long time, Ciel, nothing is wrong." She said a defiant smirk growing on her face as well. She loved the way his name felt on her lips. "Annabelle." Ciel said, walking so he was about a foot from her.

"Ciel." She said, it felt like cool fresh water on her tongue; "Tell me?" He whispered, cupping her cheek in his hand.

"You'll unlock all my secrets soon enough." She whispered, Ciel had to strain his ears to hear her.

"And nothings wrong?" He asked (persistent little bastard ain't he?), "Not anymore." Annabelle said a little more audibly. Ciel couldn't take it any more, he kissed her.


	11. Chapter 10

To make things even better, she kissed back, to her, he tasted like salt water, like the smell of the ocean. To him she tasted like some exotic fruit, sour and tangy. They both could've lived in that moment, but this pesky thing called breathing got in the way.

When their eyes met up, both of them panting just a little, there was this slightest look of regret. That shouldn't have just happened, but it did.

Sebastian glared at the bluenette from behind a statue, Gigi by his side "Ivan relax, they're just kids trying to be happy." She cooed trying to get Sebastian's attention where she wanted it, on her. He obliged and the two snuck off again for another night. Leaving Annabelle and Ciel to fend for themselves.

"I-I should, should, umm go." Annabelle mumbled through, she shouldn't have allowed that to happen! He was already engaged to a lovely girl who he could be happy with!

"No! Annabelle, please ju-just, don't, please." Ciel pleaded softly. "Ciel, what just happened was wrong. It was wrong and you know it." She said, he would need his help to stop herself from falling in love.

"I don't care." He said, a little hardness adding itself to his voice, he was against fixing the situation. "Ciel, I'm sorry, I just can't I-" Annabelle tried, Ciel cut her off with a little kiss. It only lasted a moment, she was nervous and worried; but he just didn't care, he kissed her again. She resisted only for a moment, but he had an iron grip on the sides of her face, it didn't hurt but it wasn't right! How could something so good be so bad?

"Ciel, Ciel, stop." Was all she could say, she couldn't put her heart into anything else she knew she had to say. "Annabelle, I will not stop, ever. I don't know why, but when I'm with you I'm okay, when I think of you or your name I get an adrenaline rush. I wont stop because I don't think I can." Ciel confessed. He never displayed so many feelings to anyone. Now he was spilling his heart to a practical stranger!

Annabelle shook her head, Ciel looked down, feeling like he had failed yet another person in his life. Annabelle went up a step to where Ciel was and kissed him, they finally stopped after a moment, took eachother's hand and walked up the rest if the stairs. At the top they went their separate ways, both knowing something would go bad on this perfect night if they didn't. Ciel's room was quiet and cold. Maria's room was cramped and felt less like hers.

It wasn't really a question of whether they would get together during the night, it was a matter of who caved first and how long it would take. It took Annabelle 10 minutes to outside his door. She just wanted him nearby, he tried pacing back and forth and reading, hell he tried just lying on his bed, but it wasn't working; nothing was working.

He opened his door, "Annabelle." He whispered, feeling stupid, why would she be there first? "Ciel." She whispered back, surprising all three of the figures in the dark; the demon, the boy, and the reaper. The reaper wasn't going to make a move tonight, soon, but not now. Annabelle walked into Ciel's room and climbed onto the large bed, she laid down at the foot of the bed and automatically started to drift off.

"Annabelle, come on, at least don't make me sleep down there again." Ciel said, half dragging a sleepy Annabelle so she laid on the bed like a normal person. He faced her and watched as she dozed off, she was beautiful. Delicate and awe-inspiring. He could watch her for hours, but sooner rather then later Ciel also fell asleep. Leaving the both of them openly unprotected from the world.

Maria woke up first, she looked around as she got her bearings, Ciel had been so tired last night he didn't even bother to take off his eyepatch. Maria tugged gently at the strings and took it off his face, she suddenly became painfully curious as to see what his demon contract looked like. Her wishes were answered, Ciel opened both of his eyes busy as Maria was laying right next to his face. It stirred something in Maria, something she wasn't sure she liked, she pushed it aside. Ciel almost automatically put his hand over his contract eye and reached on his nightstand for his eyepatch, which Maria still had.

"If you wont let me see your eyes Ciel this isn't going to work very well." She said, holding up the piece of leather that held two strings, it had become a piece of identification for Ciel. Always reminding him of his contract. Ciel angrily grasped at the eyepatch and tied it as well as he could around his head.

"If its only my eyes you're worrying about I don't think this is going to work anyway." Ciel said, gazing out the window, he was right; Maria went beside him and he wrapped his arms around her and rested his head in her neck. After a few minutes of just standing there, Ciel got bold, he kissed Annabelle's collarbone and throat a few times. He could hear her blush a bright and brilliant scarlet and he was proud to be the cause of it.

Of course Maria had never been one for shyness, she turned her head so she was looking directly at Ciel and brushed her lips ever so gently over Ciel's without pushing at all. Even then, she was just getting warmed up, she pushed some of Ciel's hair away from his ear and moaned just a little into it, just loud enough for him to hear; afterall, she did have some dignity. It was Ciel's turn to turn crimson.

"Whatever is the matter dear? You seem a little flustered. "Annabelle said innocently. She started to walk away so she could get changed, but Ciel was faster. He grabbed one wrist in in one hand and another in the other; he pulled her close, and just stared at her eyes. Annabelle's breathe hitched; had she gone just a little too far? Maybe.

Ciel pulled her just a little closer "You are a tease, Love" he said quietly before once again pushing his lips to hers. He let go of her wrists and she put her arms around his neck, both refusing to let go of the other. Eventually that pesky breathing thing got in the way again and they had to seperate.

Ciel took her hand and dragged her over to the bed, he started kissing her again. Lining her collarbone and neck with little kisses and bites, Annabelle slid her cold hands up his shirt and let them roam, feeling all the coutures of his chest. He stopped for a minute, realising the position they were in, and laid down. Annabelle extracted her hands, and they just laid there for a minute. Annabelle ran a hand through Ciel's hair, letting the various shades of blue reflect in the sunlight that had started coming through the window. She tugged on it a little, he reached over to her face and traced the outlines of her lips and eyes; she loved the feeling it brought, him next to her, skin to skin. Ciel leaned forward and kissed her gently on the lips, if they kept this up he wasn't going to get anything done today.

She giggled a little, "What?" Ciel asked, sitting up. She sat up too, "I've got to go do some things. I'll send Sebastian up to you and I'll see you later, okay?" Annabelle cooed. Ciel nodded once and let her get up and walk away.

He sighed, what were the consequences of falling in love with a demon? He supposed as a 'souless sack' it didn't really matter.


	12. Chapter 11

*Narrator POV

The day went by slowly for Ciel and quickly for Annabelle. She had to run around and prepare for the evenings ordeal, it was the night she officially stopped being a demon. She was excited as a kid before Christmas. Gigi asked all sorts of questions about dinner the night before (which Maria and Ciel never actually ate), so Maria had to give her the 4-1-1 on what was happening and both of them had their fantasies.

"Are you sure about this? After tonight there's no going back and there's no telling what Ciel will think." Gigi said, trying to convince her that I should just stay a demon. "I'm not afraid of what Ciel will think; and the reapers will just want me to stay out of the way." Maria remarked. Gigi tsked at her and went back to the dishes; Maria sighed.

All the while Ciel was working, groaning and sighing and pinching the bridge of his nose as he tried to get his work done. He couldn't get his mind off of a certain yellow eyed beauty. He took a deep breath; he went out and started walking down the stairs, bound for his lovely Annabelle. He walked into the kitchen, it was dark. No people, no candles nothing just darkness; it struck Ciel as very odd but he continued walking around the manor in persuit of his 2nd demon servant.

"Annabelle." He called out, the whole manor was getting dark now, "Sebastian!" He yelled trying to find a sign that he wasn't alone in his house.

"I'm afraid Miss Annabelle had a bit of buisness to attend to but told me to give you this." Gigi said, handing Ciel a small envelope with his name on it. "Gigi, what is Annabelle doing?" He asked.

Gigi sighed; "I've known Sebastian and Annabelle since before they died. Annabelle's death was very unusual and the reapers and the demons and the angels all agreed it was easier to keep her on that island as a book keeper." She explained quietly, "What is a book keeper?" Ciel asked loudly, Annabelle said so many times his that was the one thing she didn't want to be, but what was it?

"A book keeper simply keeps track of who dies on the island so the reapers don't go on a wild goose chase looking for a dead person. Its a boring job, but it prevented a war with the legions. Now Annabelle has chosen to abandon that in order to serve you so she could stay alive long enough to change from a book keeper into something else." Gigi explained simply, she started to retreat into a shadow.

"Change into what?!" Ciel yelled into the darkness "Gigi!" He was answered only with silence. He took the letter he had and sat in a chair by a lamp that was still lit and he ripped the envelope open and he started to read...

_ Dear Ciel,_

_ By the time you're reading this, I will be in the process of becoming a grim reaper like my mother, please bear no ill will that I hadn't mentioned it to you sooner. I should be back tomorrow, for my last day in the Phantomhive manor, I hope, if you don't want me there I will just have to return to my new home in the city. Sebastian and Gigi will take care of you, and I wish to visit you often. Please forgive me. My name is not Annabelle. __, love Maria_...…

How did this happen?! How did his love slip away from him like this? How could she consider turning into one of those disturbing creatures!? If she became one, what would Ciel do? What would he do without her? Nothing. A week ago, he met an annoying girl who had saved his skin to save hers. Now, she was his everything. He had to go get her. Ciel had Sebastian driving a carriage into the city in a matter of minutes. Why would she do this to him?! Why? They got to the city fairly quickly; it took Sebastian about 15 minutes to find the boarding house where quite a few reapers stayed when they were in the city.

"We are looking for a Miss Maria Micheals, would you know where she is?" Sebastian asked politely to a large woman who was working at the main room bar. "We don't serve your kind here." She grunted out. Ciel slipped her 800 pounds, she sighed "She's getting unpacked in room 106, third floor". Sebastian said his thanks as Ciel started racing uup the stairs, he was praying, for the first time in ages, that it was not too late.

He opened the door, and recongized Annabelle's figure and hair. "Annabelle." Was all he could say, she looked at him with green and yellow eyes.

It was too late, he had failed, again. "Ciel! Please understand!" She pleaded; he had lost his everything, "I'm afraid I don't want to understand Annabelle. You've chosen these heathens. Its your life, you throw it away if you want; don't bother coming home tomorrow." Ciel growled, heartbroken and confused.

She started to cry "Don't waste your tears on me Annabelle, they don't mean anything to me anymore." He hissed. She grew angry, "That's not my name! Get out! Get out!" She screamed through her tears, she started throwing things. A lamp, 3 pillows and a suitcase became the victims of this attack.

When they left she huddled in the corner and cried, when Ciel got into the carriage he cried too, so much so in fact that he had to take off his eyepatch. When they returned to the manor Ciel went to bed and Sebastian told Gigi what had transpired "I should go check on her." She whispered pulling on her coat and going out to the stables to get a horse. Sebastian 'tsked' to no one in particular "And what did that accomplish?" He said to the silence around him.

As for Maria, she couldn't help but think that it was her worst birthday ever.


	13. Chapter 12

**Okay, now that my angst chapter is over, and i've taken my leave, on with the show!**

The next morning was just a punch in the gut for both of the miserable lovers.

Maria got kicked out of the boarding house because she was half demon and wasn't actually doing any reaping. Lizzy came over to see Ciel, which was awkward mostly because not a day ago he was kissing a girl he'd known for days and he had never kissed Lizzy and she had been nearby for years. He tried to entertain Lizzy but he couldn't put his heart into it. If she noticed she was kind enough not to say anything.

Maria walked along the old dirt road leading to the Phantomhive estate, its not like she could piss Ciel off any worse. She trudged along, if he didn't at least tell her to sleep in the stable she was going to have to get help from Will B. Sutcliff. She shuttered at the thought. She knocked on the great doors that stood before her;

"Took you long enough, he's a mess." Gigi said quietly when she opened the door. Maria knew better then to hesitate, she ran inside and peeked into Ciel's study to make sure she wouldn't be interrupting something. Through the crack of the open door Maria could see Ciel in his chair, and Elizabeth was in his LAP. She could almost audibly hear her heart break as Ciel kissed Lizzy, he kissed her differently, he kissed like he was starving for it, and Lizzy complied happily.

"No" she whispered. She wanted to scream, yell how much she cared about him, that she was sorry. She went to the storage room and sat against the door and started to cry. Ciel had heard it, the almost silent 'no' from the other side of the door. He had been looking for a way out of kissing Lizzy, she had practically attacked his lips once they were alone.

"Lizzy I need to go check something." He struggled to say, she let him up and he sprinted out. He followed the sound of slight heaving and hard breathing, it came from the storage room. He tried to open the door, it was locked or something had fallen against it, being none to eager to go back to Lizzy he sat against the door and started talking to himself

"I wish you were back here Annabe-Maria, I wish you were here so I could hold you when you were scared or sad, and then I would have someone for when I was lonely. I just didn't know what to think when you said you were becoming one of THEM. I thought that's who you were protecting me from. I don't even care about it anymore, but I have no idea where to find you." He whispered...

"You could try the other side of the door you idiot." Maria whispered from her side of the door. Ciel stood up and tried to open the door again; it opened with ease and there sat a tired, tear-worn Maria. He closed the door and sat down beside her

"I was so scared that you would reject me again. And then Lizzy..." She trailed off; Ciel tilted her head so she was facing him

"I'm sorry, Lizzy doesn't matter, for now, its just us." He told her, she nodded. He tilted her head up again, before either knew what was happening they were kissing again; at first it was just shock between their lips, but then Maria gripped his hair and started moving around a bit . Ciel reacted too, wrapping his arms around her, squeezing her just a little. Ciel broke the kiss first and started lining her throat with them. He bite her once in a while which made her moan, which in turn made Ciel kiss her harder. She ripped away and stood against a wall, dragging Ciel with her. Maria stood in front of him and pushed her back against his front, she took his hands and laid one on her stomach and the other right below her throat. Maria turned her head enough so she could go back to kissing Ciel. He let his hands roam freely around her throat and stomach, but still not daring to go beyond that. Eventually they stopped and took deep breaths.

"I love you Ciel." Maria whispered, "I love you too." Was all Ciel said, too much excitement for him for one day.


	14. Chapter 13

*More from your dear little Narrator girl

Maria was reinstated and moved back into the manor happily. The rest of winter sped by along with spring. The hot, sticky attitude of late June had started to really settle in. Ciel had just gotten out of the bathroom after taking a bath to try to refresh himself in the heat. He hadn't even bothered to get dressed, to damn hot. He crashed on his bed and started to fall asleep, Maria walked in. Seeing Ciel passed out in a towel just laying on his bed was priceless. She rolled her eyes and kept walking. She put fresh towels in the bathroom and laid next to her little blue boy. The fabric of her dress was suffocating, and Ciel was fast asleep, Sebastian was trying to fix the garden, Gigi had gone out for groceries, the servants were hiding from Sebastian. Seemed legit .

She stripped down to her corset and last petticoat with her bloomer's under it. She already felt better, it was sooo much cooler now. She laid back down next to Ciel and started to drift off herself. Of course, right then Ciel woke up, still a towel close to pure nakedness and beside Maria, who was also, close to the point of bareness. He stared at her, so delicate and pretty, like a little, half-unclothed doll. He got up and put on his under pants so at least he wouldn't have to hold the towel in place. When he got back Maria was awake again, propped up on pillows, staring intently out the window.

"Thinking of anything important?" Ciel asked, breaking Maria's staring contest with the window. "Of course not." She said, smiling widely. Ciel looked her up and down, one petty skirt, bloomer's and the same corset she had made him tie in February. She was like some creepy ballerina, "Like what you see?" Maria asked, tilting her head to the side like she was saying 'I know you do, and I love teasing you'. That head tilt had it damn straight, he loved the way she looked in anything, even just this.

"Maybe." Ciel said, suddenly feeling like he was lacking in front of his dark goddess. Maria got up and started putting her dress back on. "Why are you doing that?" Ciel asked, it hadn't gotten any cooler in the room. "I should go, besides don't YOU still have to get dressed too?" She said like it was the most obvious thing in the world. Ciel went over to her and helped (cough forced cough) Maria back out of her dress.

"Stay." He whispered, putting his hands on her hips, his forehead against hers despite the heat. She groaned, he wasn't going to let her get anything done today was he? "Fine." She said, sighing loudly. Ciel took her into a chair and laid his head against her shoulder and fell asleep, she fell asleep too, the heat was horrible. It was dark out when they woke up

"Ciel" Maria mumbled as she woke up, happy to feel the coolness that the evening brought. "Hmm?" Ciel said (kinda) . "Come on, bed." She said, dragging Ciel over to his bed. He flopped onto the bed and waited for Maria's weight to jiggle the mattress a little. He let out a deep breath when it did, he always liked to know Maria was right beside him. He kissed her and looked into her eyes for permission to keep going. "Ciel, its too hot." She whined.

"Fine." She finally said; Ciel smiled for a minute before he kissed her again, moving closer to her, tipping her head back as he kissed up and down her throat, gently running his hands up and down the length of her torso. He knew she was only putting up with this because it would come back to bite her later if she didn't. Ciel kissed her one more time before settling down and going to sleep. He was still hungry for it though, he flipped over and found Maria looking him right back into his eyes, maybe to his soul.

"No." Was what she said, but she meant 'I dare you to pull this shit one more time tonight.' Ciel acted like it never happened and flipped back over. In the morning Ciel got up first and looked at the little black swan girl and felt a push in his heart. He had broken off his engagement with Elizabeth, much to her distress, and had begun to wonder when he should tell Maria that they were actually courting now. He wanted to just propose already! But, no, that was not the way things were done, Ciel sighed at this newly forming thought and had Sebastian draw him a bath. The water was cold, appropriate for summer but nevertheless cold. He had gotten Sebastian to leave him alone for a moment, told him to go keep an eye on the maids, who as of late had been gossiping a lot in the kitchen (Ciel didn't know Mey-Rin was the gossipy type).

"Morning Love." Maria said as she walked into the bathroom, Ciel was glad he had his bubbles. Maria took a stool and put it a decent but not far distance from Ciel. "Maria?" He asked cautiously, "Hmm?" . Ciel took a deep breath and said awkwardly from the bathtub

"Would, would, would you... hand me a towel." He asked, bailing in the last second. Maria handed him the towel and put her hands over her eyes. She only peeked a little when he got out, he was facing away from her anyway.

"Oh, by the way, we have a mission tonight." She said once he was throughly wrapped. "Oh?" Ciel questioned, Maria nodded. "Yes, triple kidnapping , there's supposed to be a masquerade ball tonight where we are supposed to find 3 kidnapped girls. Should be interesting." She said; Ciel smiled, anything that got her out of the house interested Maria. "What preparations need to be made?" He asked as he got a few actual garments on from his bedroom (Maria had stayed on her stool.)

"Sebastian is arranging transport, and Gigi is putting together costumes. I will, naturally, be your date to this ball. Someone has to make sure you don't hurt yourself." She said in a jokingly snide voice. Ciel threw a book at her. "Quit trying to de-masculate me woman." He told her;

"Never" she smirked, he threw another book at her as she left. She caught it,

"Drop something?" She said before throwing it back, it nearly knocked off his head.


	15. Chapter 14

Gigi had put together very simple costumes for the ball, consisting of two simple black and white masks and hooded cloaks in black and white so they sorta matched. They looked like everyone else. People were staring a little at Maria, who's eyes were shining a bit in her hood and behind her mask, a majority of these people were of the male ordinance; Ciel didn't like it. He took her hand and quickly dragged her behind him.

"The girls are all in one room, but its upstairs and it will be a little difficult to get through without drawing attention." Maria explained as the pair weaved through the huge crowd clad in masks and grand dresses. Ciel started up the stairs, he had seen a few other couples go up, maybe it was a little more normal then Maria had thought. Once they got to the base of the top of the stairs a husky, faintly vodka-stained voice addressed them.

"Aren't you a little early? You just got here." He asked. Ciel was only too happy to answer, he smirked smuggly as he spoke "My dear paramour and I would like to lead in the direction of a fairly vacant space." He brought her in front of him and clasped his hands onto her hips, dragging her close and grazing his fingers on her sides. Maria was gonna get him for that later. The man smiled a little

"Handle with care, and try to make it quick, we have to rent out that room twice more in the next few hours." He said. It made Maria go tense, her skin crawled. "What are the chances that we can pay for extra people, women, I get tired easily?" She was surprised to find herself say, it tasted horrible on her lips, maybe the kidnapped girls were being sold?

"We have three. I'll bring them right in." The man said. Bingo. Ciel and Maria went into the room and waited

"I'm going to kill that man when we're done." Maria warned, staring at the floor. Speak of the devil and he shall appear, the man walked in, the three girls who had been kidnapped were crudly shackled and dressed up like guests. The man negotiated prices with Ciel and we got an hour. Maria quickly undid the cuffs and told the girls that they were being rescued. There was a 18 year old debutante, her 13 year old sister, and their 15 year old cousin. It made Maria's blood boil.

"Ciel dear take them downstairs. I need to go take care of something." She said, the girls were returned the next morning and there was a man who was practically unreconizible from a slaughtering outside the home of the ball. A random robbing and murder, the police said. The next morning Ciel smiled, his girl was something else.

"I wouldn't be too happy there Love, I still plan on getting pay back for that little stint you pulled last night." Maria said happily, looking way to toward at the opportunity for her simple revenge. Ciel smirked a little anyway before sipping some of his morning tea, he didn't care if it did make her want to beat him to a bloody pulp as long as he got to hold her like that again.

**Okay, i admit, it was a pure fluff chapter, but it's something =P until we meet again...**


	16. Chapter 15

**Okay, so I've been MIA for a couple weeks now and now I'm back!** Ta-dah!

"He can't be serious Ivan!" Maria spat out several months later.

"I'm afraid there's not much I can do, the young master had to except the business transaction with him. Earl Trancy is staying for all this week, his butler Claude-" Sebastian tried to explain, Maria had practically gone rampid by now.

"Claude! Claude Fautus! Ferdinand Gregory has always been a low-down, lying snake and you invited him and his master to this house!" She yelled. Sebastian had to calm her down or she'd hurt herself (or him)

"You have a wife, a baby on the way Sebastian! I'm not a demon anymore but I know when a demon is worse then most, and Claude. Is. Bad." She said bitterly. If those parasite Trancys were going to stay under her master's roof, Maria was going to mess with them until the day they left. Sebastian and Maria argued a bit more before settling that Alois would stay far away from Ciel's side of the house; she took a deep breath and went to go ask Gigi what she thought of this development.

"Oh, what's so very bad about the Trancys?" She asked, she was in the third month of her five month demon pregnancy, it was supposed to be a boy. "Trancy butlers make good things bad and bad things worse, not to mention the Trancy boy is a complete lunatic." Maria explained quietly;

"Oh, so you've met them before?" Gigi asked as she worked on dinner. "I worked with Claude for a year at least 200 years ago, we kept contact over time, not much, but enough for me to know that he's working with 4 other demons in the Trancy manor. Alois is just plain bi-polar, its not his fault, but he's crazy. Luckily I know what buttons to push with him and his demon." Maria said sourly, Gigi gave her a worried look, but didn't say anything.

This was not going to end well.


	17. Chapter 16

**And the moment(s) of truth have arrived... let's see how it goes...**

"Earl, Claude, I welcome you to the Phantomhive estate." Maria said sugary sweet; she was careful not to look either one in the eyes. Claude didn't need to remember who she was too quickly and she had heard what happened to Hannah.

"Who the Hell are you? I thought there was supposed to be another demon butler here, not a little girl." Alois commented rudely. "This is Maria Michealis, my younger sister. I am sorry for the wait Lord Trancy. I shall show you to my master's study." Sebastian whispered coming from nowhere, the sooner Claude, Maria, and Alois weren't in the same room together the better.

"No, that's fine Sebastian, I'd love to meet your sister." Alois said, smiling his usual unsettling smile. Maria smiled sweetly and started the rise up the stairs, Alois trailing behind her; "So, what makes you stay in a stuffy old house like this?" He asked. "This house is only a few years old. It doesn't really matter why I stay here. It only matters that I do stay here, doesn't it?" Maria answered coldly; Alois supposed not, and went into a random door in the hallway they were walking through.

"Earl Trancy, stay out of there. You aren't welcomed as you are, you don't need me to add another reason to the list of why you shouldn't be here." Maria explained, dragging Alois out of the doorway by his collar. "If I call for Claude he'll kill you you know." He whined as he was dragged along the hallway floor. "I've beat your butler once and I shall again, only if needed of course." Maria said, Alois wanted to see why she thought she was so superior to his butler.

"And out of curiosity, what would be nessecary for you to attack my Claude?" Alois questioned, "And out of curiosity, what would be nessessary to make you leave?" Maria remarked back. They were both silent for the rest of the short walk; "Ah, Maria, Alois." Ciel mumbled quietly at the pair, raising an eyebrow when he saw that Maria was holding Alois's collar.

"Alright Phantomhive, what was it that you called me here for?" Alois said loudly, Ciel looked confused, "Are you really that dim Trancy? You called to come here. I didn't ask for you to come, you asked to come." Ciel argued. The butlers looked on from the hallway, admiring the pandemonium they had managed to piece together.

"She's surprisingly useful, she'll make a wonderful,_ temporary_, filler. Not to mention it'll bring a new light into both of our masters' eyes. Is it a deal?" Sebastian proposed to this copy-cat beside him** (I don't care if it IS gold, you still throw forks and knives Claude!)**. Sebastian loved deals, it came with being a demon in a way. Claude sighed "Only for this week,but the entire week, no matter what. What are her jobs around here?" He said, adjusting his glasses; Sebastian smiled "Very good. She is capable of any chore after alll she is a Phantomhive servant, but she has a knack for dealing with Ciel, perhaps she can do the same with Alois. And Claude? If you or your meal lay so much as a finger in a violent manner on my little sister,_ I will mount you over the fireplace alive_. Understood?" Sebastian asked smoothly.

Claude just nodded and the one hell of a pair of butlers put their plan into effect. The candles went out, it got dark in the room, the curtains had all been drawn and now there was just solid darkness.

"Ciel! Help! Put me down damnit!" Maria cried out. She was kicking and screaming, when she realized that no one could help her at the moment she flipped her captor and smashed his face into a corner. Claude wasn't especially dazed, he had gone through a whole year of her abuse before, he went after her again, but she was faster and opened the curtains. Sebastian leaned carefully against a wall, Alois leaning near the door in the same fashion and Ciel knocked out on his desk, his head still resting near the chloroform rag that had put him out moments ago. Wonderful.

"What is the meaning of this?" Maria demanded from the other demons in the room; "I'm afraid I have a deal with Claude I need to finish. That means you'll be spending the rest of the week on the Trancy estate, originally they were supposed to stay here, but plans change. Maria, Ciel needs to get some things of his own done, he'll be fine." Sebastian persuaded, if Claude wasn't so incapable he would have to deal with Maria's confused demonic temper himself, instead of endangering everyone in the manor.

It was one of the many dangers of Maria's origin, as the Devil's child, she was prone to be temperamental and fierce. As a shinigami by half genes and choice, she was capable of killing anything with absolute minimal consiquence.

Maria felt surges of betrayal, and of amusement, she was curious how long it be until they tried whatever they had been talking about by the door, she could be pissed later. But, one fish at a time, her first fish, Claude Fautus, now all she had to do was wrap Trancy around her finger.

"Alright, I swear on our young master's life, I will obey the rules set forth for this full week, and then alone. Sebastian, good luck when he wakes up." Maria said, smiling in a manner disturbingly similar to Undertaker's. She had walked to the carriage quietly, she sat nicely and politely on the ride to the Trancy estate, she even answered most of Alois's questions in a relatively pleasent manner. Ciel, however, did not wake up quite so peacefully.


	18. Chapter 17

"Alois dear, wake up." Maria cooed to the blonde psycho on the third morning of the Trancy week. She wasn't completely awake either, she had only just woken up, she had made a habit of waking Alois up a little before Claude would to make it easier for all parties. Of course this was the only part of Claude's day she made easy. Maria rolled out of the bed she shared with Alois; "Come on dear. Let's get up and face the day!" She chirped happily. He wasn't going to make it easy for her, and she couldn't help but wonder if Claude had to do the same thing everyday as she gently leaned down over the sleeping blonde and kissed him. Like out of a fairy tale, Alois's eyes fluttered open and he gazed into Maria's indecisive eyes. Demon red, shinigami green/yellow, just straight up sunlight yellow, the color of her eyes usually stayed around there, but Alois kept an eye on hers so if he found one he liked more then the others he could pluck it out and keep it in case she got away.

He was still trying to figure out how to break his butterfly's wing, she was only there four more days otherwise. "Maria? If you're a demon why don't you have any contracts?" He asked "Already alert enough for questions are we Alois? Part of my second contract was that I wouldn't make anymore after that, it only works because I'm not just any demon, and I'm a chosen reaper on top of my genetics." Maria patiently explained, every morning he had a different question to start off the day. Claude came in and started serving breakfast (Eggs Benedict with a fruit jelly, toast, and Earl Gray tea); "Then why stick around with Phantomhive?" Alois continued, he'd do this all day. "I'm afraid I'm just attached is all. I stay there because I want to, I don't have anywhere else to be." Maria remarked smiling; Claude rolled his eyes and waited for Maria's antics of the day, in the last 3 days, she had compared him negatively with Sebastian 63 times, put temporary blue dye and put an eye patch on this lord, and she had locked Alois in a closet without any light and pitched her voice so it would be by him to tell him that he would always be alone (it took Claude two hours to get him to stop blubbering about it). Worst part is it made Claude's week interesting.

"Let's go outside today, we can walk in the gardens!" Alois proposed enthusiastically, "You can't I'm afraid, you have company coming over today, you-" Claude said dully. "Cancel it! I will do whatever I want to! Or will that be taken from me too!" Alois screamed, showing a flash of his characteristic bipolar-itude. After several more minutes of Claude insisting that work be done today, Alois and Maria went outside to look at the flowers. "So Maria, are you liking your stay here?" Alois asked as they went past a rose bush, "I suppose, I miss Gigi and Ciel though. Do you always were such short shorts?" She remarked.

Another reason for Alois to hate the Phantomhive brat, 'easy enough to fix though', he supposed. "Look at this Alois! There's a white flower in with the red!" Maria exclaimed, pointing to a white rose amongst red ones. Alois grabbed the flower despite the thorns and threw it on the ground, crushing it with one of his hooker boots; "What an abomination, such a thing shouldn't be existent." He said, a sneer fixed on his face. "Why? In a way, you're a white rose Alois, you're special, one white in a garden of red-purple." Maria suggested; Alois stomped away, but since he hadn't asked her to follow him she didn't have to leave this fairly impressive maze of flowers. She spent the rest of the morning looking for what Sebastian told her to find in that garden.

Meanwhile, "Sebastian, what do you make of this?" Ciel asked, his migraine getting worse as the day progressed, "I would call that a threat. But it isn't said what will happen should this payment not be made." The butler said. Ciel had been brought a letter from an anonymous sender: 'Your days are numbered to two Phantomhive, five million pounds will be your price or the little snake girl gets it. Deliver it to Garden Square park under the bench near the fountain.'. It was very odd, for one thing, who was the snake girl? "What would you like me to do young master?" Sebastian asked ever loyal, he knew the target all to well. "Go find who sent this." Ciel told Sebastian, a bored tone consuming his voice. "Yes sir." And with that Sebastian jumped out a window (because stairs are SO yesterday) and got to work.

"So, you've had an experience with fire as well." Alois said over tea, "Yes, I did, almost dying in such a manner helped make me an excellent demon." Maria answered. Day 5, two more to go, it was Maria's only solace other then talking with the triplets. Just then, the window was shattered and Maria leapt over the table to get Alois to the ground, to safety.

"Go! Go find Claude, Alois now!" She yelled as Alois crept off. Maria went outside, ready for a fight with an assassin if necessary. "I will have you know, I'm not one to give up without some blood." She whispered to her current adversary. "Oh good, me either." A voice whispered back, it was surprisingly young. Maria could hardly react when 27 platinum plated knives caught into her torso. She would've thrown them back, but her attacker came surprisingly prepared, holy water drenched the blades, paralyzing poor Maria into a frozen state. "Worry not young mistress, you aren't in any true danger." The voice from before said, leaning over her in the sun. As the water intermixed with her blood Maria wondered if Alois, Ciel, and Gigi were alright, she hoped so.

"What do we know about the sender Sebastian?" Ciel asked gruelingly. He, Alois, Claude, and Sebastian had all gathered at Undertaker's to figure out by who and why Maria was taken, so far they had no leads what so ever. "She has to be somewhere! Claude why haven't you found her yet!" Alois yelled into the face of his butler. "She in the Underworld, any amount of thieves or murderers could have her. Of course you can blame Ciel, he is the one who didn't just pay the damn man." Claude said, rubbing salt into their wounds, as if these morons needed to be pitched against each other more. "Actually, I know exactly where she is, it's more of a matter of how to get her." Sebastian remarked. The masters looked at him in disgust, how long had he known!?

"And where might that be butler? Where is my dear little niece? Do you truly know or should I start a coffin for her?" Undertaker asked, bringing out a tray of beaker tea. "Niece? Whatever are you talking about?" Ciel asked, flabbergasted. Alois had started yelling at Claude for not having admitted knowing where Maria was. "Yes, her mother was my sister way, way back." Undertaker said, laughing that unsettling giggle. "Yes, here's a picture, they look very much like each other don't they?" He continued, handing Ciel a grainy picture with a young version of Undertaker and a young woman with silver hair and a bright smile and yellow eyes. Ciel nodded and took a sip of his tea, "Sebastian, I do believe its time to go fetch our little reaper girl."


End file.
